Betrayal: Ben's treachery!

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Geo: 27.7629, -15.5772

Happy New Year! Breakfast was Honey Nut corn flakes, and some coconut yogurt and crappy mango-mixed juice rounded out the meal.

First town of the day - Fataga - not much there. The landscape so far today is fairly arid, a sharp contrast from yesterday's lush, green valleys. The next town was Santa Lucia de Tirajana - a pretty nice town that it supposed to have a cool museum about the history of the native Guanche people, but we couldn't find it.

We stopped at a beautiful hotel/lookout for a few pictures and a bathroom break. The temperature is fairly cool at this elevation, but it wasn't too bad because it was a beautifully sunny day.

Next was Tejeda - we were looking for what is supposed to be an excellent pastry shop but couldn't find it. We suspected that it had closed down. It's too bad because the guidebook described the pastries as "sublime". Other than that, there wasn't much here to see or do. It was a little like Arcos, Spain with its high elevation and rocky cliffs.

So far today, the highlight has been the drive itself, as opposed to any sights in particular. Gran Canaria truly is a mini-continent with its numerous micro-climates. Lush, rainforest-like valleys, mountains, desserts, beaches - it's very cool to see it all once you escape from the tourist hordes.

Next up - Cruz de Tejeda - it marks the centre of Gran Canaria and its historic Caminos Reales (King's highways). From here there are views of Roque Bentayga, Roque Nublo, and Gran Canaria's highest peak, Pozo de Las Nieves.

Back to Maspalomas and the beach. We had some difficulty finding parking (poorly planned resort!) - upon arrival, B&H went to get some food and I went to the beach. I needed to get some evidence of a tan as proof that I went some place warm for Xmas! I told them to meet me back here in an hour or so ... a mistake!

It became cloudy and the wind picked up so it was pretty cold. There would be no suntanning today. I literally "chilled" on the beach - I had brought a small hand towel with me and tried to use it as a tiny blanket. I couldn't take it any longer so I cowered on the ground next to a snack hut, reading my magazine. I've been swiping them off of the flights - it's good practice because all of the articles are written in both English and Spanish.

Back to the condo to change, and then to the Yumbo centre, the largest mall in town. There are 200 shops, restaurants, and bars ... but it's bizarre because there are only five or six distinct types - clothing, souvenirs, jewelry, electronics, and duty-free. They were repeated over and over, ad nauseam. Yumbo = crap-o.

The plan was to find a decent restaurant there and if not, we would go to the little town of Puerto de Mogan. We couldn't find anything, so we hopped into the car and left town. It's also a tourist town, but is a lot more "real". It turned out to be a great idea because it was a beautiful drive, with the lights of the hotels on the coastline.

Puerto de Mogan is quite charming despite being a little touristy, and is definitely not insipid like the larger resorts. There was only one restaurant recommended by the guidebook, but it was full. It's too bad, because the food looked and smelled incredible - unfortunately for us, they only had four tables. There weren't many other options in the harbour area - they were all either full, or had run out of food after New Year's Eve.

We stumbled upon "Tu Casa" - a supposedly authentic Italian restaurant? I've grown leery of "authentic" places in the Canaries because 99 times out of 100, they are crap catered to the tourist masses from the UK and Germany. But the menu definitely had its share of authentic Italian dishes, so we gave it a try.

I ordered a fresh OJ - sour! Our waiter was an old German gentleman, which caused me some concern as to the authenticity and quality of the meal. There were a number of Spanish-speaking customers that appeared to be locals, so that made me feel slightly better. Overall, our meal was excellent.

The drive back to Maspalomas was a little scary. I fell asleep just before leaving the undivided section of the highway - when I woke up, we were on the left hand lane and I saw headlights coming at us. I thought we were about to have a head-on collision but then realized that we were now on the divided section. After my underwear dried, I managed to fall back asleep.

I awoke again to an even scarier sight - I opened my eyes and saw some shadowy figures on the highway directly in front of us. It was sort of like something out of "Ghost" - remember the part where the shadowy figures come out to take the souls of the newly-deceased?

They looked like they were on horseback and they turned back to look as us, and almost appeared to be frightened. Either we ran over them or they ran off into the distance - I'm not exactly sure. It's all a little fuzzy because it all happened in only a matter of seconds - but it was some scary crap! Later on, I mentioned it to Ben but he saw nothing. By the time we returned to Maspalomas, my undies had dried a second time.

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Photos

a
Perhaps it was a new brand of Honey Nut Corn Flakes, because it tasted different than what we get back home. It was a little less sweet and crunchier. Maybe cockroaches had crawled into the box and died inside?

a1
There seems to be an over-use of sexualized images of Spanish women on their beverage containers.

a2
I mean, who the heck buys drinks just because they've got pictures of Spanish hotties on the labels? Wait a second ... I do ... but uh ... I was bought it only so that I could show you all the labels. Yes ... that's right ... it's for you people ...

c
Some little exhibition on the Guanche people, just outside of Maspalomas.

f
The Canaries may be tacky, but there are still some really beautiful spots.

g
For Ann - for some strange reason, she has a thing for my feet. So here you go!

i
Taken at the beautiful hotel and lookout point - nothing says quality establishment like ants crawling up and down the wall.

j2
Neat church in Santa Lucia de Tirajana.

j3
What's up with these statues? She's got candles on her head and he's wearing a dunce cap. What the hell? Something tells me that they both always have that blank look on their faces ...

j3
I can't remember, but this might have been San Bartolome de Tirajana.

k
I thought this looked really cool - the way that the trees lined the very top of the ridge line.

k2
Another nice lookout.

ze
Shot of the Yumbo Centre.

zza
Puerto de Mogan - beautiful!

zzb
Puerto de Mogan's main square on the waterfront - too bad we couldn't find a table at a good restaurant here!

zzc
View from "Tu Casa".

zzd
Ha's starter salad was much better than the typical Spanish salad - endives, tomatoes, and assorted greens.

zze
I started with some excellent bruschetta - good quality tomatoes (big chunks!) served over some excellent crisp and chewy toasted bread. There was a tad too much olive oil ... but the beautiful vibrant aroma of fresh basil helped mask the excessive oil. It could have used a touch more salt, but the fresh, quality ingredients made up for it. I hadn't really eaten anything all day, so I ended up eating Ha's roll that was included with the set menu she ordered. Warm and chewy ... the only thing missing was some butter.

zzf
Ha's tuna wasn't that great, however.

zzg
I had the grilled catch of the day, a whole fish prepared nicely with good boiled potatoes on the side. The fish was juicy and fairly tender, served with a sprinkling of capers. It was a little over-cooked on the underside, but otherwise nicely done.

zzh
I originally wanted the rock bass with white truffle sauce, but Ben ordered it so I decided to get something else, in order that we could sample more dishes. I was pretty intrigued by the dish - would the truffle overpower the delicate flavour of the fish?
I wished that I had ordered the rock bass instead - because while my dish was good, Ben's was AMAZING. There was only a hint of truffle, but enough to give the sauce an incredible flavour. We joked that this was my first chance to actually have an amazing fish dish in Spain, but that I was denied by Ben! I will never forgive him! I joked that Karma was a bitch, and that payback would one day come.

zzi
I really needed dessert after having skipped lunch - I just didn't consume enough food today. They were out of tiramisu so I went with the panna cotta - rich and creamy, it was a traditional version of the classic, unlike the one I had at Maze. I'd say that it was the second-best I've ever had, right behind Maze's.

zzj
There were still tensions between Ben and I over the white truffle rock bass.

zzk
The REALLY bad bottle of champagne that was included as part of our stay. It was so bad that after each of us took a sip, we decided to pour it out and drink our beer instead.